


Xander and the Goblin King

by amlago



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 06:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amlago/pseuds/amlago
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up at Sunnydale Xander knows that whishes can be dangerous things. But as he falls asleep in his hotelroom he silently whishes for a place to belong. With Sunnydale destroyed he doesn't have a place to call home anymore and everybody is making their own plans. When he wakes up he's at another place a place that feels both strange and familiar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Xander looks around. He doesn’t recognize anything, but at the same time it feels familiar as if he should know this place. He can’t explain it, as far as he knows he's never been in a castle or at least castle like building. Another thing he can’t explain is how he's ended up here. The last thing he remembers is falling asleep in his hotel room, wishing or at least yearning for a place to call home. It’s just a little more then a week after Sunnydale was swallowed and the numbness of it is finally starting to disappear. Xander isn’t sure he likes that, the numbness is the only thing that keeps him from falling apart. Perhaps that is why he doesn’t remember how he ended up here.

Xander shakes his head to clear it from the depressing thoughts and catches a whiff of something. Something smelling really good, at first it seems earthy spicy with a hint of ozone, but as soon he notice it, it changes to dark rich chocolate. Without meaning to he takes a step forward wanting to follow it to the source, but hesitates since he doesn't know if it's better to stay put until Willow of someone else figures out that he's gone. Not that it was certain that they would notice something inside of him whispers. It’s not like they notice you when you’re there unless they want something, or you make enough of a fool of yourself for them not to notice. He wants to disagree with himself but can't, the last couple of days he sometimes wasn't even sure if he's visible or not.

Decision made. Xander starts to follow the sent, going up stairs, down stairs, through corridors and rooms filled with strange and amazing things. He sometimes wants to stop and check something out, but is afraid that he will lose the sent. While he doesn't meet anybody or anything he hears voices and sounds from distance a couple of times, so he knows he's not alone.

Xander can't say how long he's been wandering about, it can be an hour of it can be closer to a day. But finally he comes to a room where a man stands. he is so concentrating on following the sent that he doesn't really see the man until he's pressing his nose to the others throat. Xander jumps back or at least he should have jumped back, but strong arms catches him and pulls him close into a hug. Xander freezes but can't help melting into the embrace when the other doesn't let go but just continues to hold him close.

"Alexander Lavelle Harris, Xander, the white knight that sees all, breaker of prophesies. This is the third time we meet and the first time you're the one who seeks me out. Protector, whose strengths lies in your unflinching heart. Friend, who sacrifices your innocent to save the world. Heart, which doesn't shove your wound to others but helps heal those you love no matter the cost to yourself. Welcome."

Xander's brain somehow short circuit as he looks up at the other man. No, that wasn't true, he didn't really have to look up, they were almost the same height now.

"Goblin king," the shock or realizing where he is makes him pull away, and the other lets him. "Why am I here?"

"Why indeed?" the man, or goblin, monster, demon or whatever he really was strokes his fingers over the younger man’s face. "Most loses believes in magic when they grow up, or at least stop believing in miracles. But here you are, fully grown and with the scars to prove it. It seems the magic here is making you look as you really are and not what you think you are."

Xander gives him a confused look and the goblin king smiles and summons a mirror. Shock runs through Xander when he sees himself. His hair is lighter and full with spots, like a hyenas pelt. His eye is still brown, but has a green circle inside that almost glows. His teeth are pointier, not like a vampire and he think that they probably are more like a hyena. when he glances down he sees that even his nails are changed, not bitten down as they were before but slightly sharper and when he flexes his hands they emerges like claws. He looks...

"I look," like a freak, monster.

"Beautiful", the other man says coming up from behind him and putting his arms around the younger man pulling him closer. "You look strong, fierce and beautiful."

Xander tenses in the embrace but relaxes as he feels the other body at his back. The arms around him, and the warm and strong body behind him makes him feel safe, the sent surrounding him makes butterflies flutters in his stomach. Jareth pulls him even closer, so they're flush against each other and Xander can feel the hardness pressing against his back. His breath hitches but he doesn't move since the other seems content just standing there close together looking at the mirror. It takes Xanders a couple of moment but finally he looks at the mirror again. Suddenly he doesn't look like a monster; he looks like he fits with the other, like he belongs.

"I’m not," Xander isn't really certain what he is or isn't at the moment but he feels strangely cold when Jareth releases him and takes a step back.

"Don’t worry. I won't do anything against your will. If you stay here I will court you, it's up to you if you accept or not. But I won’t let anyone say you’re not beautiful, not even yourself."

Xander blushes, something he didn't even know he still could do.

"Can I go back?"

"Do you want to go back?"

"I," he hesitates. Does he want to go back, what is there really for him to go back to? No parents, not that they have been there anyway. Willow is talking of going to England with Kennedy and study magic, Buffy is taking dawn to Europe to get as far away as possible from the exhellmouth, not that he can blame her. Giles is looking for those watchers that are left and trying to organize something for all the new slayers that are popping up. Faith has declared that she's leaving for Africa of all places to look for slayers there and the birthplace of the slayer. Andrew is following the slayerettes around like a puppy and is going to follow them wherever they go, either as a mascot or as a watcher in training depending on what he and Giles decides. And Anya, it hurts thinking of Anya. Anya won’t be going anywhere and neither is Spike. Another person that is seems he's the only one missing. Everybody else has forgotten them at least that are what it seems like for him. And what plans does he have? What use is a one-eyed carpenter? Someone else can bring the droughts, and it's not like they listen to him anyway when he suggests something. "I don't know," he finally says.

"Then I don't know either. But don't worry, you have time do decide. time moves different here but your friends have three days to get you back, if they don't succeed you will stay here and the changes will be permanent. If you go back you will change back, if that is what you want. Now come, you must be hungry."


	2. Chapter 2

It takes Giles almost a day and a half before noticing that Xander is gone. When he asks the others he finds, to his dismay, that the others haven't seen him either. And while he knows that Xander can handle most things he's still put out that neither of his friend have noticed that he's gone. Not that Willow of Buffy seems that concern when they notice; Dawn at least goes with some of the slayers to look around the neighborhood. Giles goes to take a look at Xanders room. It doesn't look like there is something missing, but it's hard to say since no one managed to bring that much with them. It’s with a sinking feeling that Giles spots the crystal ball on Xanders unmade bed.

He gently picks it up, hoping it won't mean what he thinks it means. It heavier than it looks, but then again if his fears are true that isn't so strange. He quickly wraps it in one of Xanders shirts so he won’t drop it by mistake. That would be the worst thing that could happen.

Luckily he makes it back to his own room without a hitch and the test doesn't take very long. They just confirm what he already knows. He knows that he should summon the others, but wants to try it by himself first. He quickly puts the crystal ball on the floor and draws the necessary symbols that will stop it from sucking in anybody else. Then he gently puts the chocolate bar besides the crystal as an offering. It probably should be more appropriate with something else for an offering, but this is Xander and one thing he knows about Xander is that the boy likes chocolate. It doesn't take long before the fog inside the ball shimmers and a face appears over it.

"Watcher, teacher, and mentor to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Goblin king. it would seem like you have someone who belongs to us," Giles doesn't really have that much experience in handling fairies, but the one thing he do know is that you should never give them any names. Now, if only he could be certain that Xander knows that to.

"Ah, yes the joker among the cards, the unexpected white knight that follows his own rules and doesn't listen to the fates. It would seems like you don't keep good track on those you call your own."

"Well, yes," Giles brains stutters to a halt, not knowing what to say. "A lot of things have been going on."

"And yet none of his so called friends are there with you, have you lost all your wards?"

"My apologies, I just thought it would be best if I tried it on my own first."

At first the goblin king just looks at him, but then he gives a small nod.

"Very well. And what can I help you with?"

"Is, the white knight, safe? How do we bring him back?"

"He’s as safe as anyone in this realm can be, or not be. As to bring him back, why would you want to?"

"What do you mean? Of course we want him back, he belongs here!"

"Are you sure that he wants to come back?"

"Of course he wants to come home. Let me talk to him, please."

"As you wish," the face disappears and instead he sees a garden, a garden full of strange flowers and beings. He spots Xander a distance away, with goblins all over him hanging from his arms, at his back and clinging to his legs.

"Xander!" he exclaims before he can help himself when Xander goes down, probably of the weight. The goblins are laughing and it takes a moment for him to realize that they probably are children. "Xander!" he calls again and this time the other apparently hears him since the goblins scatters and disappears.

"G-man," Xanders calls sitting up, face full of apprehension.

Giles stares in shock because Xander doesn't look human. His face has animal characteristics that put him in mind of the hyena possession. Giles belatedly wonders if the exorcism was as successful as he has believed all these years. If Xander has been able to hide that, what else has he been able to hide? Xander meanwhile sort of crumbles into himself when the other doesn't say anything else.

Suddenly Jareth is there, kneeling before the younger man and bringing him in for a hug. He whispers something in his ears that Giles can't make out and then lets him go. Xander gives him a grateful look before hurrying away, leaving the other two behind.

"It seems I was amiss to let you meet Alex. I was under the impression that you wanted to bring him back with you, not making him feel unwanted."

"I do want to bring him back, I was just surprised by his, eh, changed looks," Giles isn't certain it would be wise for Buffy to see Xander when he looks like this, she had a habit of attacking first and asking questions later.

"He looks now on the outside what he is on the inside. Strong, fierce, magnificent."

"Yes, well. Will he change back when he returns?"

"If he returns, but yes if he returns before the time is up then the changes will pass."

"How long before the time is up," Giles can't believe he forgotten the time limit when dealing with the goblin king.

"Just under a day and a half. One day for every time we met, three days at the beginning but lesser for every second."

Giles want to ask about how it was that Xander apparently met the gobling king so many times, but realizes that he won’t get an answer.

"Is it possible for me to call back later? I would like to tell his friend what's happened; perhaps they can help with getting him back."

"Of course, just remember the offering," Jareth cuts the connection and closes his eyes to find where the younger man has disappeared to.

He finds him in one of the library, curled in one of the armchairs. Jareth kneels before the young man, tugging at him until the other is in his lap. He makes soothing noises as the other cries silently.

"He looked at me like I was a freak," Xanders voice is broken, sad.

"Shh, my beautiful boy. A mere mortal can't understand the beauty you possess. Why do you think you capture the eyes of those that are other?"

"I always thought that it was bad luck or the hellmouth fault," Xander gives a weak laugh.

"Don’t be silly. They can see what you really are, the beauty you have within you. Even Angel could sense it, cursed as he was, blinded and weak."

He rubs Xanders back and the younger man snuggles closer until they are as close as they can be. Xander freezes when their groins come in contact and he can feel the bulge on the other man. He almost stops breathing until his body decides that it quite like the feeling of being pressed against another man’s body. Then he tries to scramble back, something Jareth doesn't allows of him. Instead the older man stands up, easily carrying the other weight. Jareth puts one of his hands at Xanders back and the other grabs his ass so they rub together when he stands. Xander groans, his legs automatically goes around the others waist as he tries to get some friction.

"Easy kitten, if you stay here we will have the time to do this properly. I will court you as you're supposed to be courted, slowly and thoroughly. I will not take advantage of your confusion or sorrow. If we mate it will be because you want to, not so you can forget everything for a moment of eternity," he kisses Xander on his forehead and gently puts him down on the floor. "Now, I’ve talked to your watcher and he will contact us again when he's talked to your friends."

"Why did it take so long before he contacted us, it's been more than three days already. It doesn’t really matter what they do at this point."

"My dear kitten," Jareth can't help to run his fingers through the others unruly hair, marveling how soft it was. "Have you forgotten that time is fleeting, the river flows faster here than over there? It’s been a little more than a day and a half. They still have time to try and win you back."

"Oh," Xander hums under his breath, almost like a purr. "Are you going to try and stop them from getting me back?"

Xander can't really say if he wants to go back or not. For the first time in what feels like ages he's content, happy. He would almost say he feels loved, but since it feels so different from what he felt with Anya he can't really say.

"No, that wouldn't be wise of me. If you choose to stay here it must be by your own free will, otherwise you will end up hating me in the end," regretfully he stops petting the other and holds out his hand. "Come, they will not contact us for at least a couple of hours. Let me show you around some more."

Xander takes the proffered hand smiling over the tingle that spreads when the magic takes them someplace else.


	3. Chapter 3

Giles isn't having a good day. First so had Xander somehow been whisked away to the goblin kingdom, then it appeared that Buffy had left without saying when she would be back. At least Dawn and Willow was at the hotel. Dawn had come back after she couldn't find anything around the hotel that could help find Xander and was just relieved when Giles told her he knew where Xander had disappeared to. Giles refuse to say anything else before he started knocking on Willows door. Ignoring the yell that she was busy he continued knocking on the door until she opened looking disheveled.

"Giles, is something wrong? I was just busy," she blushes when Kennedy drapes an arm around her from behind. "Can it wait?"

"No, I’m afraid it cannot. I have discovered what happened with Xander and I need your help, it's most urgent."

"Oh, ok," she gives Kennedy an apologetic look before exiting the room.

Giles gives them a short explanation on where Xander is and that his appearance has been changed by the magic there. The other two is shocked that it isn't certain that Xander will return to them and that they only have a little over a day to somehow convince him or the magic that he should return. Giles tries asking Willow if she knows when Xander can have met the goblin king earlier, but Willow doesn't know. Something she's not happy about, she thought that they told each other everything growing up. Dawn giggles when Giles puts the new chocolate bar as an offering.

Once again the mist in the crystal clears and a picture is crated over the crystal. Giles can see that the time there must move at a faster pace because the sun has moved quite a bit on the sky. They can see a meadow with the goblin king sitting under a tree. Xander is laying asleep his head in the others lap. Willow gasps; she knows how rare it is for Xander to fall asleep with someone else close to him. For him to be so comfortable to be sleeping against the other must mean that Xander trusts him.

"Goblin king," Giles greets him.

"The man of many books, your back and you brought friends. Childhood friend, scoobie, witch, black, white and red. Daughter, sister, key, who wasn't and then was and had always been." he nudges Xander who grumbles and burrow closer without waking.

Willows eyes fills with tears when she sees the gentle smile the goblin king wears while looking at Xander, it's clear that he cares for her friend and she wonders if Xander could be happy with him. The one thing she doesn't want to do is take her friends away from something or someone that can make them happy.

"Alex, knight, kitten there are some friends that wishes to speak to you," Jareth shakes Xander until he wakes up enough to sit on his own.

Xander grumbles but sit up, yawing before blinking sleepy at his friends. Dawn gives a shriek that makes him winze.

"Oh, my god. You’re adorable; I just want to pet your stomach or something."

"Dawnie," Xanders grins at her happy that she hadn't freaked out.

"Not fair," she pouts. "Why didn't you take me with you I could scratch you behind your ears and everything.

"Dawn, he isn't a pet." Willow tries to look stern, but it's clear that she also would like to try and pet him. "Anyway, I can't believe you never told me about meeting the goblin king. I thought we told each other everything."

"I did tell you, don't you remember me telling you about when I went away and visited a place where there was chocolate at every meal and talking doors?"

"Wait, he's Jareth?! Jareth with the magic snow Jareth? Jareth who told the best stories ever? I thought that was a cousin or something, not the goblin king."

Giles feels that he needs to bring the conversation back into order, well aware of the others habits of letting it go of tangent.

"Xander, perhaps you could be so kind and tell us how you have been able to meet the goblin king before. He told me this was your third meeting."

"Ah, well, yes, about that," Xander glances down on his hands. "The first one was when I was, I don't know four or so. I went here and stayed for about a week and when I came back it had only been a couple of hours. The second was when I was eleven and it was Christmas. I was outside and he came and made it snow. And this is the third time."

Xander refuses to look at anybody, looking resolutely on his hands as they play with the grass. He startles when Jareth puts a hand on his. Giles frowns, Xander isn't telling everything, or almost anything. Before he can ask the younger man about the details Jareth stands and pulls Xander up.

"Why don't you go and get something to drink while I tell the tale?" Xander gives him grateful look before hurrying away. "Now, let’s tale the tale of the boy who met the goblin king three times."

Jareth bends down and picks up a flower murmuring something to it before it's transformed into a butterfly that goes after Xander.

"Most children that comes here only comes here once, in rare cases and I mean rare they arrive a second time. Those that come a second time mostly stay or go even further away to get away. Children can only come here if they're whished away, which is why children from places like the hellmouth or similar places are more common than children from ordinary places. When Alex was four his mother wished him far far away so she and her husband could drink in peace. Alex was down with a fever and like all children wasn't happy about that. I do not know if she wished him away for his protection from his father or if she really wanted him gone. When I arrived there and offered to take him away his father said I could if I paid for the brat."

Giles is silently fuming; he'd known that Xanders childhood hadn't been the best, but this. Trying to sell your child to a total stranger.

"Of course I agreed and paid him twelve pieces of silver," Jareth hesitates. ”you must know that when I take a child it's for the purpose to make the one whishing it away to see that he or she really loves it. They are expected to go a trial, most of them go through the labyrinth but there are other trials as well. With Alex there wasn't anybody coming to take him back. I and my subjects nursed him back to health and were prepared to let him stay here. But after a week he told me he needed to go back. That he couldn't leave his two friends behind that way. So, I let him go. The second time we met was when he'd been looked outside. He was ten and it was Christmas. So I went to see if he wanted to come back with me. Ten is older than most, but he still believed in magic so it was possible. I don't know why he said no and instead whished he to have a real Christmas. So I made it snow and stayed with him outside the rest of the night, drinking chocolate and keeping him company. I left when the dawn broke after unlocking the door for him."

"And this time?" Willow asks, tears running down her face.

"This time he fell asleep wishing for a place to belong. I didn't come to his room to get him; instead he was brought here by other means."

"He looked happy," Willow murmurs and Dawn nods.

"He’s allowed to grieve for those he miss without being judged for it," Jareth voice is without judgment.

"That’s ridiculous, we don't judge him for grieving," Giles sputters.

"That’s not true," Dawn objects. "The new slayers didn't know Anya, I’ve heard more than one say that it was better that an exdemon died than a human. And I know Xander misses Spike. I don't know if they were friend or not but they've known each other for quite some time. I mean if someone should be missing Spike it's Buffy, but Xander is the one who's hurting. He won't talk to me because I’m too young or something, Willow is having sex in her room all the time and Buffy is either patrolling or shopping. So, yeah, I can understand why he wanted away."

Willow hugs her and lets the young woman cry at her shoulder. She’s ashamed to realize that Dawn is right. They’ve all been too caught up in themselves to think about others. But while she had Kennedy and Dawn had her sister Xander didn't have anybody he could turn to.

"You love him don't you?"

"Of course, what's not to love? He’s loyal, brave, radiant," Jareth looks away over his kingdom. "It can be a lonely thing being a king, it's not often you meet someone who sees the man inside the title. I’ve told him that if he stays I will court him."

Giles splutters but the other two smiles.

"Chocolate is a good bet, and cookies," Dawn says with a smirk. "I don't know if he brought his axe when he came over, but he likes those. He likes most things with sugar actually."

"Dawn! We’re here to get Xander to come back, not helping this person to, to court him!"

"But it's so romantic. If Xander marries a king he will be royalties, we will know someone who's royal. He will be a queen, or something."

"Consort actually. Here the person married or tied to the king or queen is called the consort," Jareth conjures a bubble to make sure that Xander is ok. "Ah, it seems like I’m needed. If you excuse me."

"Wait! We need to talk to Xander," Giles pleads.

"Come with me then," Jareth stands and suddenly they're someplace else.

Giles wishes that the screen or what it should be called where larger. They can't see that mush of the environment, only that the goblin king seems to be looking down a hole with an amused smile.

"Really kitten, I can't leave you alone. I thought you were going to get something to drink not falling down the hole."

"Ha, ha, very funny." Xander gives him a halfhearted glare. "For your information so didn’t I fall down, I jumped into it."

"Ah, that makes it better. Now tell me, why would you jump down the hole? There is no treasure there and unlikely as it is so doesn’t it lead to anyplace either."

"Ha, that's what you think. There is a treasure in here, isn't it?" the last is said to something he has in his arms.

He’s holding a small creature that chitters in response and tries to burrow inside his shirt. Jareth sights, but can't say he's unpleased; it's so like Xander to jump before he thinks and try to save someone. He bends down, holding out his arm. Xander takes it without hesitation and is pulled out of the hole. The small creature chitters again before jumping down and scurrying away.

"Neevers aren't really uncommon. You don't have to jump down holes to see them." Jareth tells him with a smile.

"Well, it was too small to get out of its own, and I knew you would find me so it wasn't a hard decision to make. Besides I would have thought you would enjoy rescuing me," Xander gives him a smirk.

"Ah, to play the hero instead of cast as a villain. You humble me," he gives Xanders hand a gentle squeeze before relishing it. "Now my fair kitten, you should talk to your friends."

Xander gives him a confused look before noticing the audience. Blushingly he meets Willows eyes.

"I can't believe it you’re flirting with a king!" Willow isn't certain if she should be scandalized or not. She hadn’t even known that Xander was interested in men, or perhaps it was just the goblin king he was interested in. "How can you be flirting with him, you just arrived there."

"It’s been five days," Xanders mutters, ignoring that the first thing he'd done was plastering him against the other, smelling him.

"Five days?!"

"Yeah, time is sort of strange here," he waives his hand around to demonstrate. "I’m not really sure how it works, but sometimes it moves faster. Or perhaps it always moves faster but different faster because last time I was here a day was an hour but that's not the case this time."

Giles wants to continue talking with Xander but fears that at this point it will not lead to anything. Better to discuss the situation with Willow and Dawn, and even Buffy if she would show up.

"I’m afraid we need to take a short break. It’s almost dinnertime and I don't know what would happened if someone would come into the room. Xander, sire we will contact you after dinner." he quickly ends the connection before anyone can say something.

While it's true that it's almost dinnertime he doesn’t think that anything bad would happened if someone would force the door open, but you could never be too careful with fairy magic. He takes the two protesting girls to the restaurant where everybody gathered for dinner. Before letting them go he asks them to try and come up with arguments that will show Xander that he belongs here with them and not in another dimension. Both Willow and Dawn seems reluctant but promises that they will do their best. If he didn't know better he would thing that they didn't want their friend back. Most likely they just didn't get the ramifications of Xander being spirited away.

It takes a while to eat dinner and take care of all the small conflicts that happens when you cram teenage girls together in a small space. But finally they are back at Giles room, Buffy is still out somewhere but Faith noticed that something was up and invited herself. It takes a couple of minutes to explain to her what’s happen and convince her that she can't just go there and slay the king. But finally they sit down on the floor again and Giles places a small bag of chips as the offering.

When the picture becomes clear the can see Xander lying on a rug next to a fireplace with a thick book in his hands. As the focus sharpens on the young man they catch a glimpse of shelves filled with book. It seems that this time they friend is in a library. It’s clear that Xander isn't aware of them watching as he continues to flip through the pages snickering sometimes. Sometime must have passed since Xander is wearing different clothes than last time.

"Yo, xan-man! What are you doing with your nose inside a book? I thought that was more a red thing."

"Faith!" Xander scrambles up to a sitting position. Luckily Faith has been warned about his change in appearance.

"Looking good Xan-man," she gives him a smirk.

"Alex is one of the finest specimens I have had the pleasure meeting," Jareth comes into view, rubbing his hand through Xander hair in a clear display of ownership.

Xander snorts but doesn't pull away from the petting, giving a hum of contentment when the other uses his nails lightly.

"Yes, well. We all know what a genial young man Xander is," Giles clears his throat. "We were hoping of talking to Xander in private."

"Speak for yourself, I don't have anything against seeing them together," Faith tells him.

Giles sends her a disapproving look while Dawn blushes and the other two decides to ignore the comment.

"I don't mind Jareth staying, I’m pretty sure he would listen in anyway." Xander doesn’t seem upset by this, more amused than anything.

"Well, in that case. Xander, do you have any idea what would happened to you if you stayed there?"

"Uhm, I’m pretty sure that Jareth is planning on courting me. I’m not really sure how or for how long, but apparently we're not having sex before it's done."

Giles removes his glasses and starts cleaning them. He’s certain that it's Anya’s influence that has him so open with the idea if sex. She would tell anybody that would listen, and some that wouldn't, all about their sexlife.

"Xander are you even attracted to the male side of the population?"

"Not as far as I know. Well, you have to agree that Spike is attractive, but I’ve never been interested in having sex with him or anything like that," he glances at the man running his finger through his hair. "But Jareth smells right, and if Anya taught me anything it's that you should at least try it one before deciding if you like it or not."

"Smells right? What does he smells like?" Willow wonders.

"Uhm, like really good dark chocolate," Xander blushes and mumbles something.

"Don’t hold out on us Xan-man, what did you just say?"

"I said that that I’m pretty sure that hints of ginger is arousal." Xander fixates his eyes somewhere else than their faces and refuses to look at them.

"So in other words you think he smells yummy," Willows giggles. "Isn’t that your favorite chocolate flavor?" she hastily slaps her hand over her mouth and sends him an apologetic smile.

"Dear lord," Giles is becoming more and more certain that he's the only one who seems to understand the danger of the situation. "I must insist that you try and take the situation seriously. If we don't succeed then in a little than a day Xander will be struck in another dimension."

"Well, at least there are shrimps here."

"Giles, I don't understand why you're so worried. Xander isn't in any danger, seems happy and even has a king who wants to court him. If he wants to stay there I can understand it. It’s not like we would never see him again, right?"

"Of course he would be able to see his friends. Perhaps not to visit you, at least not for a while. But talking like this is not hard to manage and some of you could even be able to visit." Jareth indicates Dawn. "The key still has the power inside her, she just have to find the correct door, and the red witch also have the power inside her she only lacks the knowledge of how. Alex must also acquire the knowledge before he can safely travel between."

"Yeah, not to mention that the book is written in a language I’ve never seen before. So I need to learn that first."

"Yes, it's an ancient goblin dialect. You probably haven't had the opportunity to see it before; it's rare outside my kingdom."

"Perhaps Willow or I can be of assistance," Giles offers. "I’m knowledgeable in quite a few different languages."

"I doubt it G-man. I don't recognize anything about it."

"Yes, well, I’m sure that I’ve got more experience so it's possible that I would recognize it."

Xander give him a look he can't decipher.

"Wow, you really have no idea do you?" Xander laughs mirthless. "How many languages do you think I can?"

"Well," Giles subsides, since he sometimes doesn’t really think that Xander can use the English language he doesn't know what to say.

"Just because I don't know how to speak them doesn't mean I don't know how to read them. You are aware that I’ve been helping with the research since I was sixteen. Not even half your books are in English and most of them that are are so old they could be another language anyway. I can read Sumerian, runes, Latin and Greek fluently. Thanks to Dracula I can also understand French, Spanish and Italian. The closest I can say that goblin is to is that green book with red writing."

"You opened that?! It’s written in a demonic language. What happened?"

"Nothing except give me a headache so I left to go home. Met Clem halfway there and ended up at his place eating chips and watching some strange Spanish soap opera. Now if you excuse me, us dumb brutes are going to have lunch." Xander makes a cutting motion with his hand and the connection breaks.

To say that Xander is unhappy is an understatement. So what if he knew that Giles and the other didn't pay attention to what he did for the scoobies. But he'd at least thought that Giles had paid enough attention to know that he could read more than one language. What did Giles think he did when they were researching, looking at tie pretty pictures? Or rather the gruesome pictures since demons and monsters for the most part weren't pretty. Before he can storm away in anger he's engulfed in two strong arms that holds him close. Xander struggles for a moment but knowing that the other won’t release him he suddenly relaxes and lets the other take his weight. Xander isn't sure why he feels so safe with Jareth but he hopes that he won't be proven wrong. Jareth doesn’t say anything, something Xander is grateful for, and just holds him. After a couple of minutes Xander can't help noticing the others smell and presses his nose at the base of Jareths neck. He greedily takes in the sent and presses closer, until he can't help himself and licks the others neck to see if the tastes as good as he smells. Jareth groans, grabs Xanders shin with one hand and forces his face up so he can press a kiss to the younger man mouth. While the other hand slips under Xanders shirt and onto warm flesh. The kiss starts almost hesitant until Jareth nips Xanders bottom lip so he opens his mouth. Jareth plunders the others mouth with his tongue, demanding and hungry. Xander whines and grabs his hips so they grind together. As sudden as they started it stops. Jareth pushes Xander an arm length away and holds him there when he tries to get close again.

"You make me loose reason. But I’ve said that we will take it slow and we will. Copulation made in anger and sorrow will only lead to regret. If you come to my bed it will be of your own free will, after being courted. It will not be brutal and in haste. Come we will have lunch."

A confused and disappointed Xander follows the king to the dinner table. He wishes he could be angry at Jareth, but can't. The other had told him that he wouldn't take advantage of him and that he would court him. Xander wasn't really certain what he thought about being with a guy; it wasn't something he had contemplated before. It was just something with Jareth that made his body react and his brain shut down. It wasn’t just the others scent, though that was a big part of it, it was the way he made him feel safe. Xander wasn't used to feel safe, his parents never made him feel safe and after Willow tried to destroy the world she didn't either. The only one of the scoobies that was safe was Dawn and Tara when she had been alive.

Xander pokes at the food but finally eats when one of the goblin gives him sad eyes. Afterwards he goes for a run. He figures that the others will call back in the morning, which means that it would be at least one day for him, maybe two. Truthfully he's not sure he wants them to call back, every time he speaks to them it just becomes clearer that they don't know him.

One thing Xander both love and hates about the goblin kingdom is the way nothing stays in one place. He can follow a trail and come to different locations every time or going different directions and still end up at the same place. The palace, or castle or whatever it was at least had certain rules or liked him enough to let him find his way most of the time. But outside he never knew where he would end up. Xander stops and looks around, the forest he's entered is dark and quiet. To quiet, he can hear no birds or insects. When he turns around the path is gone, there is only trees.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Giles is woken up by Buffy knocking at his door. Apparently Dawn told her what has happened when she came back in the middle of the night and she wants to make sure that she's there when they contact Xander again. At least that's what Giles think she says, but since it's not even five in the morning and he haven't had his tea he's not certain. Dawn doesn't look that much more awake and seems to contemplate sliding down on the floor to get some more sleep. Giles manages to convince Buffy to wait until seven before contacting Xander again and goes back to bed to try and sleep some more. at six thirty he's up and having his breakfast, Dawn is poking at her toast but too tired to try and eat it and Willow is laying half asleep in her chair with her head on the table. Faith was apparently not interested in waking up and had thrown something at her door when Buffy had knocked on it. When they all had managed to eat some breakfast they gather in Giles room.

The picture that appears shows Xander and the goblin king sitting at a small table out on a terrace. Buffy’s eyes narrows as she takes in the bruise on Xanders face and the bandage at his arm.

"Xander, do I need to come there and kick some ass?"

"Buffster!" Xander jumps, clearly not aware that they had made the call. "I really would like it to be some kind of signal or something so I knew that someone was calling," he tells Jareth before giving Buffy a smile. "No need for as kicking. I managed to end up in the black forest, which is more dark than black, and as you can imagine there are some dangerous creatures there. I sorta stumbled into something and hey meet Neville."

Xander bends down and comes back up holding a small goblin.

"I named him Neville because he likes flower," the goblin giggles and makes a raspberry at Xander before it squirms and wants down.

"After Neville Longbottom," Dawn says with a smile. "But shouldn't his parents name him?"

"He doesn’t have any; I think the monster that had him had already killed them. And apparently according to his clans customs he's mine now since I saved his life, or her life, or it. They choose which gender they want to be when they've grown up. But they said I could call Neville him if I wanted."

"Xander," Buffy interrupts them. "You seem happy. I just want to say that you shouldn't let anybody bring you back from there. Being there makes you happy and let's face it, if your here you will only end up trying to stop the next apocalypse and the next after that. I know what it's like to be brought back, I don't regret my return but it's different for you. We can talk to you and also visit if I understood it correctly, so stay there."

She ignores the shocked people around her and turns to Jareth.

"Are you going to become evil when you finally have sex with Xander?"

"Ah, sister, shield against evil, slayer. You don't need to worry, I am capable of having sex without turning evil," Jareth tells her with a smile.

"Good. Here is my shovel speech, just imagine that I'm holding a shovel. If you hurt him, and I don't mean hurtful words in an argument because trust me that will happened, but if you hurt him with purpose mentally, physical or in any way I will find a way to come over there with a shovel. I will use that shovel to cut your head off and then dig your grave with it. Xander deserves to be happy and I think you will make him so."

Giles sights but gives up, he's the only one interested in getting Xander back but perhaps he was wrong in thinking that it would be the best thing for the younger man. Especially since it appeared that he didn't know him as well as he thought, or at all. how could he'd missed that he could read so many languages was beyond him, but he suspected that it was mainly because he'd had a picture of Xander and then hadn’t seen beyond it. And he was forced to admit that the goblin king seemed fond of Xander.

"Very well, I can't help to agree. If staying there makes you happy you should of course stay there, as long as we can keep contact with you."

"And we wants invitations to the wedding," Dawn demands.

"Yes, you better be planning on making an honest man out of Xander," Willow agrees.

"Wait, what?" Xander gives them a panicked look.

"Of course you will be invited to the ceremony. It won't be a wedding as you mean it, but if Xander accepts my courtship there will be a binding ceremony between us."

"You want to marry me?"

"Yes, but don't worry courtship is at least one year long so you have time to get used to the idea."

"You want to court me for at least one year?" Xander feels like a broken record, but he can't help repeating the other. "What about sex?" he'd thought that the courting thing was for getting him into bed, not that he suspected that that would be hard for Jareth. He would just need to get close enough for Xander to sniff him and he wouldn't be able to say no.

"No sex before the ceremony," Jareth gives him a smirk. "That doesn't necessarily mean that we don't get to do anything, but no intercourse before we're bonded."

"You are an evil, evil person," Xander informs him.

"I could always draw the courtship out, one year is the minimum but it can go up to seven," Jareth tells him indifferently.

"I would either have to move far far away from you or explode if you decide to take seven year to court me."

"I’m sure it would be a magnificent explosion."

"Oh, god, they're too sweet. I can't watch this anymore," Buffy interrupts them. "Just make sure to invite us to the wedding, or whatever you call it. And no hurting Xander," she tells the king before breaking the connection.

"Now, what should I give you as your first courtship gift," Jareth asks him when they're alone again.

"Well, since apparently there won’t be any sex in the near future either chocolate or an axe would be nice."

"I will see what I can find," Jareth stands and takes one of Xanders hands giving it a light kiss before releasing him. "Perhaps I can find some way to combine the two."

He disappears, leaving a dumb folded Xander behind.

"Wait, what? I don't think an axe made out of chocolate would make a good weapon!" Xander picks up Neville and hurries after Jareth. Hopefully he would have some say in what the so called courtship gift would be.


End file.
